IT is easy to take the achievements of Aidan O’Brien for granted, even to want someone else to win for a change, but his 2024 has been yet another year of high performance. From getting City Of Troy back after his 2000 Guineas flop to more recent impressive efforts with the juveniles, winning a Morny with Whistlejacket eight days after the Phoenix and having Lake Victoria sharp enough to win two Group 1s in 13 days, the second down in trip, O’Brien is always willing to try something different, difficult, or both.

One fixture that has tended to best him over the years is Arc weekend. He has won the feature race twice versus four King Georges and 12 Irish Champion Stakes, equivalent all-aged championship races in Britain and Ireland, while he has generally struggled – relative to other achievements – in the Cadran (two wins), Opera (one win) and Abbaye (no wins).